Kingsman: The Kingmaker
by presidentuziel
Summary: The Kingsmen are vowed to political neutrality, but in a world where the line between 'Government' and 'Rebel' has become blurred, one Agent has crossed it. The Kingsmen, still training replacements for dead and treasonous agents, are spread thin. Galahad and Lancelot deploy their trainees in an attempt to save Kay, but discover the beginnings of a conspiracy...
1. Chapter 1

"These kids aren't ready."

"We weren't ready."

"We were so ready."

"_I_ was ready, _you_ got weak in the knees and ran off."

"_I_ killed Valentine."

"_You_ cried when you left the Mansion with your dog. Who you didn't shoot."

"Just start the music."

_Why try? I know why  
The feeling inside me says it's time I was gone  
Clear head, new life ahead  
It's time I was king now - not just one more pawn!_

The team was to jump from the plane over the Mexican desert. Two teams of seven each, one led by Galahad and one led by Lancelot. Below them was a compound, originally used for truckers crossing the border as a waystation; drop off a trailer, get a new trailer, drive back, while a different trucker takes the dropoff. Naturally, it was often used as a means of smuggling drugs and immigrants, totally beneath the notice of the Kingsmen, who would normally leave that to Policia Federal.

However, in the year after the Valentine riots, and with most of the Mexican government leaderless and/or corrupt, it had become overrun by one of the four major Cartel families that had begun to slowly overtake North America. Now the facility was the next best thing to a military base, with soldiers, trucks, and even a few tanks operating out of the facility.

Agent Kay, who had been missing since Agent Galahad was murdered, had turned up during the Kingsmen's search for missing and dead agents. Most of the Kingsmen were missing or dead: Percival had succeeded Charles King as Arthur; Agents Gawain and Tristan were killed by the implants exploding, as they had collaborated with Arthur; and Agent Bors was killed during the crisis.

The Kingsmen had been left with five active agents: Arthur (formerly Percival,) Galahad, Lancelot, Bedivere, and Ywain. The plane flying above Mexico was filled with all twelve trainees. The rule was that injuries meant elimination as a candidate.

It was definitely overkill, bringing that many Finalist candidates to this kind of an operation, but given how undermanned they had been with so much to do, Arthur was peculiar about bringing Agent Kay back into the fold-provided he hadn't gone rogue.

"All right, we jump in three! Two! One!" Lancelot yelled, and her team leaped out first. They would land, and come in from the west, while Galahad's team would come in from the north.

_Fly by night, away from here  
Change my life again  
Fly by night, goodbye my dear  
My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend!_

Lancelot team rushed out two by two, with Lancelot taking up the rear. She didn't hesitate to jump, hitting her chute almost immediately, as they were flying in low so as to avoid radar. Galahad's team lined up, and waited for the green. Galahad looked to his HUD; the teams were marked as LANCELOT-0 through GALAHAD-6. Since the trainees didn't have designations yet, this was easier to work with. As each of them hit the ground, a little red circle turned from red to green, signaling that they and their equipment had all landed safely. Just as Lancelot-0 marked Green, Team Galahad got the 'jump' signal.

Galahad One through Three were training to replace Gawain. G-1 was an African-American named Zach who Merlin met during an operation to the United States. Zach was fending off a group of looters from his father's electronics shop. G-2 was a Brazilian girl named Camila, whose family was in a remote area during the riots, and spent four months living in the jungle. G-3 was a young Police Officer from Cornwall named Dan who showed exceptional skill when recorded on CCTV during the riots. Zach was Eggsy's favorite to take the Gawain spot, as he had formal Martial Arts training. He liked Camila, too, and wished she wasn't competing with Zach. Dan had too much angst about his actions during the riots.

Galahad Four through Six were training to replace Percival. G-4 was Andonis, a transgender man from Greece that Eggsy had met during a mission, and assisted Eggsy eluding a militia, despite already being prosecuted by that same mob. G-5 was Hakham, an Iraqi who had been jailed by extremists for expressing 'Un-Islamic' views. He did not stay jailed, and was discovered by Lancelot. G-6 was a college student from Glasgow named Matilda who shot guns for a hobby. Naturally Eggsy was hoping for Andonis, but all three of them were excellent candidates; he didn't want to see any of them go.

Matilda and Hakham jumped out of the plane together, and Eggsy was right behind them. He let out an excited yelp as he plummeted towards the earth, and opened his chute. This was gonna be a good day.

_Moon rise, thoughtful eyes  
Staring back at me from the window beside  
No fright or hindsight  
Leaving behind that empty feeling inside_

Eggsy landed nearly on top of his team; it was a perfect landing. Their chutes were stashed, and they had the facility in their sights. G-6 scanned the facility with her sniper rifle, 'tagging' targets that were then shared between each of the agents' HUD's. The targets' movements were tracked with the system, and L-5 was doing her own scan of the facility, tagging more guards at another angle that G-6 was unable to spot. Between them, they had most of the facility scanned, and an estimate of how many targets. With the live video feed, Merlin was able to make the guess of where the prisoner was.

"We have a plan?" Lancelot asked after all the drawing was complete.

"Go in, kill everyone that isn't wearing a suit," Galahad said.

"Sounds good to me."

_Fly by night, away from here_

_Shoot to thrill, play to kill  
Change my life again_

_Too many women with too many pills_

_Shoot to thrill, play to kill  
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will!_

The music playing in low volume in their headsets as a morale boost was quickly droned out as Rush was overtaken by AC/DC from above, blaring and echoing through the desert. Searchlights activated in the compound, and missile batteries emerged from their hiding places.

Galahad followed the source of the music, only to see a trio of helicopters emerging from the darkness. He zoomed in with his HUD, and spotted the American flags on the sides.

The missile batteries fired at the helicopters, but there was a red flash from the helicopters, and explosions lit up the night sky as the missiles exploded in midair. Even AC/DC was unable to drown out the rotary cannons of the helicopters pumping out rounds and shredding the missile batteries.

"Uh, what do we do now?" G-3 asked.

"Stick to the plan. Only don't kill people with American flags on their shoulders," Lancelot commanded, and Galahad watched as her squad charged down the hill.

===KINGSMAN: THE KINGMAKER===

"You heard her!" Galahad led the squad to the facility. The helicopters had stopped blasting and were now flying over the compound. The Kingsmen squads reached the fence before they'd even thrown their rappelling ropes. Once inside, the Cartel soldiers didn't even notice the Kingsmen make their way through, as they were all focused on the Americans.

"I didn't know Uncle Sam was helping us out," G-1 commented.

"They aren't," Merlin chimed in, "The Americans don't know we're here, so they're likely to assume we're hostile. Proceed with discretion."

_Start a new chapter  
Find what I'm after  
It's changing every day_

One Cartel was unfortunate enough to get into Galahad's path, and found his nose busted in, and then his head smashed against the wall, leaving a red smear. Once he was down, Galahad started a timer, and a counter. Galahad turned the corner, found another, and took him down with the butt of his weapon while G-1 moved forward, garroting a soldier that as turning to the new disruption. G-3 shot the lock open to the door, while G-2, 4, 5, and 6 moved in, taking out targets inside. 00:00:24, 6 kills.

They could hear the Americans engaging in a gunfight. A heavier machine could was blasting from the helicopter, letting out a 'DUM-DUM-DUM-DUM' as it provided overwatch support.

"We've got our exit route secure," Lancelot announced, "We'll hold it. Get Agent Kay, and get out."

"On it," he replied, as G-2 opened the next door with G-6 entering with an umbrella. Bullets hit it and fell to the ground, and G-3 gunned down the shooters. 00:00:35, 9 kills.

_The change of a season  
Is enough of a reason  
To want to get away_

They entered the next room, umbrellas providing cover as another gunfight ensued. G-1 popped out from behind G-6's umbrella first to return fire, a little too quickly, and, despite taking out several targets, got plugged in the chest. G-2 and G-4 took down the remaining targets. 0:00:52, 15 kills. Galahad looked at the man sitting in the chair. He had bruises and cuts on his face; his suit was impeccable and undamaged. Galahad paused the timer as Kay looked up.

"Oh, excuse me, I don't believe we've met," Kay said through a swollen lip.

"Galahad, good to meet you, Kay. Lancelot and I thought you might want to see home again," Eggsy told him. Kay nodded,

"That would be a rather nice treat."

G-3 untied Kay, and offered him a pistol. Kay took it with a nod, rolling his hand before taking it properly. A gunshot blew open the door to the next hallway, and the three umbrella shields came together to protect the rest of the team. The fabric screen showed a squad of US soldiers aiming their rifles at them as they entered the room. The Kingsmen squad backed away, preventing the squad from flanking them, and headed back to the door.

"What the hell?" one of the soldiers asked.

_Quiet and pensive  
My thoughts apprehensive  
The hours drift away_

"Pardon for the interruption, gentlemen, my friends just came to pick me up," Kay said, "I tried calling an Uber, but I couldn't get reception out here. If you'll excuse us, we'll just be on our way."

"…What do we do, sir?" a soldier asked.

"Down on the ground!" another shouted.

"Oh dear," Kay sighed, "We're just passing through!"

The soldiers opened fire. The umbrellamen changed the setting as the bullets fell to the ground harmlessly when they impacted, and fired the stun shots, sending the soldiers against the wall, taking five down in three shots. Kay poked his head over one, then his head around to double check.

"Terribly sorry about this, friend, there's been some sort of miscommunication here. May I ask who your commanding officer is?" Kay said, walking to one of the filing cabinets and opening it. Inside was his gear. The sergeant, still conscious, blinked at him.

"…What?"

"Who is your commanding officer? This is all just a terrible mix-up, would you mind letting him know we're on our way out?"

The soldier glowered at him, not saying anything. Kay sighed.

"Galahad, this is Lancelot, is anything strange going on in there?" she asked. It was a private call, so only Galahad and Merlin could hear them speak.

"No, except for the unexpected cavalry," Galahad replied.

"Because the Cartel guys, they're…Slaughtering each other. With whatever they have on hand, but the Americans are fine. This looks like the Riots all over again."

Galahad's gaze snapped to the soldiers, who were starting to wake up. He tapped Kay's shoulder.

"They're using Valentine's tech to subdue the Cartel," he whispered. Kay frowned.

"I do not believe these Americans are friendly, then. Still, no sense in attracting undue attention. Subdue them, and let's exfiltrate. Pardon this, Sergeant. You should wake up in a few minutes with a headache," Kay aimed his watch and fired a dart. The other agents did the same to the rest of the squad.

"Let's go home, shall we?" Kay requested, and they moved down the hallway. A pair of Cartel soldiers sat at the end of the hallway, both dead. One had multiple stab wounds in his chest and face. The other one had his share, but had been shot multiple times. A bloody knife lay next to the shot Cartel gangster.

They exited the building, headed to Lancelot's position, pausing to allow a squad of the Americans pass without noticing the Kingsmen. AC/DC once again blared over their music, reducing their communication to hand signals when they regrouped, and Lancelot squad covering their retreat.

Their plane had landed nearby, and was waiting for them. A helicopter began circling around the compound, but they were already loaded and the plane was gone by the time it caught up to their trail.

_Leaving my homeland  
Playing a lone hand  
My life begins today_

"Oh, my, that was exciting!" Kay said. He was a man who was lanky with big ears and a large nose. He had a mostly shaved head, and he looked around at the two squads.

"Welcome back to the Kingsmen, Kay," Lancelot took off her helmet and nodded to him.

"Looks like the table's gotten a lot longer, hasn't it?" Kay looked at the trainees.

"Naw, actually, these scrubs're just getting a bit of hot fire under their arses. They're trainees," Galahad peeled off his helmet. He looked over at Galahad-1, who was clutching his chest. Eggsy walked over.

"Ah, well, good job, the lot of you. I much appreciate the assistance. Nothing's worse than a Mexican Cartel prison. Still, I managed to keep my suit clean, so there's a plus," Kay inspected his clothes. He took a moment to pluck something off the sleeve with a disgusted grimace.

"You all right, Zach?" Galahad said. Zach nodded.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Nothing my foot, take off your armor," Galahad instructed. Zach hesitated, looking to Dan sitting next to him, and began taking the armor off, revealing some bleeding, and a purple bruise across his chest.

"Gaw, that's nasty looking. Tha's gotta hurt like hell, don'tit?" Eggsy grimaced.

"I didn't want to tell you the bullet got through, sir," Zach admitted, "You said any injuries meant we drop from the program."

Eggsy nodded, "I did, I did say that. Sorry, Zach."

Zach leaned back, trying to take a breath, but wincing with the pain instead, "I guess it's back to the TV shop, then."

"Naw, don't be like that! You're still one of our best, Zach. The Kingsmen still have a place for you, you haven't failed. You're just…Not gonna be Gawain, that's all," Eggsy assured him. Zach nodded.

"The Cartel soldiers started attacking each other when the helicopters arrived," L-4, a Russian woman named Esfir, said. Nobody knew who put forward Esfir as a candidate; by process of elimination it had to have been Arthur himself, but there was no confirmation. She was the best recruit of the bunch, in physical and mental scores, but she had to be taught how to work with the others.

"Like in the riots," L-3 agreed. He was Bart, an Australian man who'd rigged his boat with improvised mortars and defended the Sydney opera house during the Riots.

"But not the Americans, or us," L-1 pointed out. Jamilah was an Afghani woman who took over her late husband's Opium farm, and had defended it against a militia, until it had been burned down, "The soldiers must have had the chips, too. They used it, I think on the helicopters."

"Yes, I agree," Lancelot nodded, "Without the chips to protect them, the cartel just tore itself apart. Charlotte, could the Americans have built something like that this quickly?"

Charlotte, L-5, was a Canadian hacker, who had discovered the true nature of Valentine's technology, and had managed to stop the signal from overtaking her neighborhood in Montreal. She shrugged, "If they had access to the transmitter for it. It's unlikely that that anyone could have reverse engineered the process with just the chips. Either they found someone who worked on it, or they had a transmitter and learned how it worked."

"I think I might know how they managed it," Kay interjected, "Merlin, are you hearing all this?"

"Every word," Merlin chimed in over the intercom.

"I'm afraid I only have bad news. I came to America to investigate Valentine's connections with the Intelligence community. What I found was that he'd managed to corrupt them all the way to the top, promising Directors and high ranking agents with budgets and tech. That's how Valentine was able to get his technology deep into areas like the jungles of South America, or into central Africa. The CIA sold Valentine's technology to armies, terrorists, rebels, all over the world, who set it up in places that Valentine couldn't reach," Kay explained.

"Which means it's been distributed…Everywhere…" Charlotte rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Weapon proliferation, some of the worst weapons humans have ever made are in the hands of madmen," Lancelot shook her head.

"Indeed," Kay said, "And it gets worse. I need to speak with Arthur right away."

"What is it?" Eggsy asked.

"I think one of us is behind the civil war in the United States."

_Fly by night, away from here  
Change my life again  
Fly by night, goodbye my dear  
My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend_

_My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend_


	2. Chapter 2

"All right," Arthur sat at the table. Lancelot, Galahad, and Kay were present; Bedivere and Ywain were attending remotely. Merlin stood next to Arthur. Arthur had once been Percival, who had recommended Roxanne for Lancelot. Since the death of Chester King, he had taken a personal and intimate oversight of the Kingsmen. He had quickly become an 'elder brother' to the agents in training. He had earned their respect, and they were happy to do whatever it took to ensure he seemed a little less stressed.

Today, that stress had mounted.

"Sir," Kay nodded.

"I want you to explain this to me, Kay. Start with what your original mission was," Arthur instructed.

"Sir. When Galahad began investigating Valentine, he asked me to inquire upon Valentine's connections in the Intelligence community. What I found was very disturbing. Unfortunately, all of my files and information has been confiscated and scattered who knows where. I'm afraid I've created a significant leak in this regard, you have my sincerest apologies," Kay began. Arthur nodded.

"It's quite all right, we'll deal with that in time."

"Thank you, sir. Valentine had already gotten to the American intelligence community by the time I found anything. Our contacts and associates were difficult to approach and unwilling to give me anything. I dug closer, and found that the CIA, NSA, and DEA were distributing technology with Valentine patents in them to organizations to the most remote locations in the world. Militias in central and eastern Africa. Guerillas in the jungles of South America. Rebels in Nepal. They all received Valentine's technology through the NSA and CIA," Key explained.

"Good god…" Lancelot shook her head.

"Indeed. The CIA coordinated it such that these organizations all found themselves in heavily populated areas on V-Day. Attacks, infiltrations, and so on, so that Valentine's technology would have the maximum effect. I compiled all this information, ready to hand it over, when I was discovered by the CIA. I was forced to go quiet, and by the time I was able to get anything out, it was already V-Day, and I was too late to do anything about it," Kay continued.

"All of that work for nothing," Galahad lamented.

"Not nothing, but I'll get to that in a minute. In the initial chaos after V-Day, I tried contacting the Kingsmen, but I found that it was essentially impossible to get any kind of messages out, with global communications down. Then I found myself being chased by former CIA and NSA agents across the United States for several months. I attempted to coordinate with the Ashes Union when they formed, but the CIA had already gotten to them, and they tried to kill me. I then found myself working with one of the innumerable militia groups, but they tried to sell me to the CIA as well. Then I found myself in the Battle of Tulsa between Major Nelson's forces and the Lone Star Republic," Kay said.

Arthur leaned over the table, intent on hearing this. The Ashes Union was a confederation of corporations and Congressmen that had managed to cobble together some semblance of organization. As far as successors to the United States they were the most economically and militarily powerful, but they were notoriously corrupt. The Lone Star Republic was a Texan nationalist movement that had crushed opposition and was trying to establish itself as its own nation, but was psychotically repressive. One other American successor state had declared itself, the Federal Restoration Pact, which was an alliance of States that had declared their intention to restore a Federal government in the US, but they were not nearly as well deployed or united as their competitors.

Major Nelson was by far the most interesting of the group, however. Unlike the Ashes Union or the Lone Star Republic, he had yet to declare the formation of his own nation-state. Instead, he made his way through the Midwest uniting and coordinating communities and bringing military and police units back into the fold, creating the best-organized military and economic force on the continental United States. They lacked the sheer economic power of the Ashes Union or its technology, and they didn't have the numbers of the Lone Star Republic, but they were extremely efficient.

Major Nelson had refused to recognize either the Ashes Union or the Lone Star Republic, and was fighting a war against the latter which was tearing through the Texans, and allowing the Mexican Cartels to tear through areas otherwise controlled by the Lone Star Republic. Three months ago, the enigmatic Battle of Tulsa had occurred, which, from all reports, had basically destroyed the city, but also had crippled the Texans' military force. There were so few civilian survivors that reports of what happened were sketchy and far and few between.

"What happened at Tulsa?" Arthur asked.

Kay rubbed his face, and took a breath, steeling himself. He hesitated one more time before saying, "The Texans deployed Valentine's technology."

"God save the King…" Arthur muttered.

"Save him indeed the poor boy. The Texans…They put the emitters everywhere; I don't know how they got it. I…Had no defense against it, myself, I went insane, and I slaughtered everyone I saw. But both sides, the soldiers, neither were affected by it. Nelson's forces had these…Headphones on. Whenever a soldier lost theirs, they went crazy. Eventually, the Major's men destroyed the nearest emitter to me, and I regained my sanity. By that point I…Well…I'd rather not return to the United States. A lot of people lost loved ones because of m-b-because of…I did…" Kay put his hand over his mouth, and bit his finger, "So many bodies…"

The room was silent, as they allowed Kay the chance to gather his wits.

"I…I decided to seek out Major Nelson, and find out what was going on, but Bruenor found me first. He…He brought to Major Nelson, they were on a first name basis. I asked what he'd been doing, and he told me he'd been recovering the devices and turning them over to Major Nelson for disposal, that the Texans had been using them to put down rebellions. But what I found…

"Bruenor had set up Nelson's entire intelligence network. Everything, from the analysts to the field agents. He'd either recruited or was training all of them, and it was clear that Bruenor's work was a piece of Nelson's backbone. I met Major Nelson, he's a capable leader and an excellent commander. But there is no way he could have started that system without Bruenor. And then I found out that they weren't disposing of all of the Valentine devices. They were converting them, making their own, and they were using them against the Texans.

"I confronted Major Nelson about this, who told me he didn't use them against insurrections, only against the Texans and organized militias, but it's clear, they're using this as a weapon, all of them. And all of Nelson's successes, I can guarantee, can be traced to Bruenor in some way. If it wasn't for him, Nelson would still be a major power in America, mind you, but he wouldn't be flying missions over Houston right now, he'd still be fighting over Oklahoma and Arkansas."

"Bruenor's violated his Neutrality vow," Arthur said.

"Yes, sir. He's helped Major Nelson become a major military power, and changed the scales of balance. He's gone rogue, sir, collecting and weaponizing Valentine devices for Major Nelson."

Eggsy looked to Arthur, "So, what…Does that mean? I mean, we can call him back now, have him answer a few questions? Just how bad is this?"

"Considering this scale, I would say this is…A serious breach of his vows," Arthur said.

"I told him as such," Kay interjected, "I told him to come back to England with me, and we would sort this out. He told me that he had too much to do, that it was too important. I told him he had to stop building the Valentine weapons, but he said that the balance of the war depended too heavily on them. I tried to escape, but he had Nelson's soldiers attack me. I went on the run, tried going to Texas, getting them to help me. I managed to get a message out to you, at least I assume so since you found me. But then I was attacked, brought to Mexico, where they interrogated me, told me to tell them where I'd put my intelligence drops. I did not break, sir. But they may have been found."

"Bruenor betrayed you?" Arthur scowled.

"Yes, sir. Attacked me himself. He said the security of the world depended on him being there."

Arthur leaned against his hands, thinking.

"Should we go after him? Bring him back?" Lancelot asked, "Galahad and I would stand a better chance of recovering him, Bruenor doesn't know us."

"What about Caradoc?" Arthur asked.

"Nothing sir. No communication or contact with him," Kay admitted, "I have no idea where he is."

"I see. I'm…Going to need some time, if you would excuse me, please," Arthur said.

"Sir," they all said together. Kay was first out the door, walking into the next room. Galahad and Lancelot returned to the mansion in silence. JB and Sam, their respective dogs, laid on a seat together on the pellerator, curled up together. When the pellerator stopped, Lancelot finally spoke,

"I suppose it's time to talk to the recruits."

"What should we tell them?"

"Who failed," she said, and exited, with Sam at her heel. Galahad paused for a moment, and exited as well, JB following obediently. The mansion, which was normally quiet anyway, whispered hollowness and echoed reminders of how empty it really was.

The trainees were lined up, three rows of four each, in the back lot. Zach was doing his best to stand straight, but it was obvious that his breathing was labored. Lancelot stood at attention, looking them over, their dogs at their heels as Sam was at hers. Any one of these trainees would make excellent Kingsmen. It was a shame that only four of them would make it.

"Today's mission was a success. Agent Kay has returned to us, and is being debriefed now," Lancelot told them. Though they remained at attention, they all relaxed just a bit, as if this were the end of the mission, and not having landed with Agent Kay in tow five hours earlier.

"Unfortunately, not all of you made it back with successes," Galahad added. The trainees tensed up again. Galahad walked up to Zach, who winced. Galahad placed his hand on Zach's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. You are still one of our top students, Zach, and we have a position for you, back in Massachusetts, in fact. We need good agents and good ears out there. Rest and heal. We were one of our best," Galahad assured him.

Zach nodded, "Thank you, sir. It's been an honor."

"Dan," Lancelot called out, "You are asked to report to Doctor Bella."

Dan stiffened, but nodded. Dan had shown clear indications from the beginning that his experiences during V-Day had given him post-traumatic stress disorder; he'd kill dozens of people by himself during the riots. Even so, he'd managed to pull through and keep his head in his training, which was how he'd gotten this far. The implications were clear.

This left Camila for the position of Gawain. She scowled, looking between them, clearly confused.

"Matilda," Lancelot said. She stiffened. Matilda was a Scottish college student who had spent her free time at the gun range; she was their best sharpshooter.

"Ma'am!" Matilda called out.

"I understand you've been offered a position with the Scottish Provisional Ministers?" Lancelot asked. Matilda hesitated, before nodding.

"I have, ma'am."

"That's quite an honorable position."

"It is, ma'am."

"Are you going to take it?"

Matilda hesitated, "It would mean I can't be a Kingsman, ma'am."

"That's not what I asked you."

"No, it isn't, ma'am. I haven't decided, ma'am."

Lancelot produced a cell phone from her pocket, and dialed a number, and handed it to Matilda, "Well, decide now. If you're going to be a Kingsman, you must remain concentrated on your training."

Matilda held the phone, and looked at Lancelot, before placing it to her ear, "Yes, Harold? Yes, it's me, Matilda. Yes. Yes. No, everything's fine. I just wanted to call and let you know that-"

Matilda glanced to Lancelot, who remained expressionless. Matilda continued, "-I wanted to let you know that I would…I would like to begin as soon as possible. Yes. Yes, I'm excited too. It's an honor. Yes, I know, thank you sir. Thank you. I'll see you then. Goodbye."

She hung up the phone, and offered it back to Lancelot, "This had been…Quite the experience, ma'am. But…My King and my Country need me there. If the Kingsmen ever call for me…"

Lancelot nodded to her, and Matilda walked to the mansion with her dog in tow. The silence had crept out of the mansion and onto the field. Nine left.

"Camile, Hakham, Adonis," Merlin called from the mansion, seemingly from nowhere, "Come with me, please. Bring your dogs with you, if you would."

The three exchanged glances, and obeyed, leaving Lancelot and Galahad with six left. Galahad smiled at them, clapped his hands together and said, "Who wants to go to a pub?"

There were two gunshots.


End file.
